VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ ARRIVED ON SATURDAY IN TEHRAN FOR A TWO-DAY VISIT. CHAVEZ WAS SCHEDULED TO MEET WITH HIS IRANIAN COUNTERPART MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD AND DISCUSS THE LATEST GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS, FINALISE JOINT ENERGY PROJECTS AND HARMONISE THE FUTURE STANCE OF THE ORGANIZATION OF PETROLEUM EXPORTING COUNTRIES (OPEC). CHAVEZ WAS ALSO EXPECTED TO RECEIVE THE "HIGH MEDAL OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN" FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO IMPROVING BILATERAL TIES IN RECENT YEARS, DPA REPORTED. ACCOMPANIED BY OIL MINISTER RAFAEL RAMIREZ, CHAVEZ WAS ALSO SCHEDULED TO SIGN SOME ENERGY AGREEMENTS BEFORE LEAVING IRAN ON SUNDAY. HE WAS ALSO EXPECTED TO INAUGURATE THE NEW VENEZUELAN EMBASSY BUILDING IN TEHRAN AND TALK TO IRANIAN BUSINESS LEADERS IN THE CAPITAL'S CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. THE VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT, WAS ALSO SCHEDULED TO MEET WITH FORMER PRESIDENTS MOHAMMAD KHATAMI AND AKBAR HASHEMI-RAFSANJANI.
